Hello,

I have a strange question about this website I came across. The website is http://www.scaran.com/index1.htm

I have a habit of checking the source code and noticed there is No DOCTYPE, No Meta Tags...How can this site rank 1st on Google... with all these very important things missing?


Thanks,

BK

Because they're not important things at all.

What are they ranking #1 for?

with all these very important things missing?

Very important things??? Maybe back in the 90's...

What Jill said - metatags and doctypes don't have too much to do with modern SEO.

Ian

What are they ranking #1 for?

I got them to come up for...

[heating, air conditioning, plumbing and energy services staten island]

Inbounds weren't quite strong enough for them to rank on...

[This page uses frames, but your browser doesn't support them.]

Ditto for [Home] and [Welcome].

;)

I think this is a pretty clear case of a site ranking IN SPITE of its design. I don't see anything that looks like spam, so it's probably just Google doing it's job trying to present sites that are relevent without necessarily being SEO'd.

Ian

it's mostly all about in-bound LINKS.

relavent in-bound links

Because they're not important things at all.

Well said.

But still, what are they #1 for?

The importance I can see in a well-written meta description that appears at the beginning of a snippet and includes the keyphrase that's in the surfer's mind and is inviting to click on is that if usage data is included in the ranking recipe of the day, then increased CTR (which is measured) could have a beneficial effect on rankings down the road.

It may or may not be thought to be used by an engine at any given time, in varying degrees, but there's no guarantee that it isn't and won't be in future by any of them.

IMHO, it's an important part of writing for the web - and for users. That makes it important.

Meta tags is not a significant factor anymore. There are many other factors way more important, it is a thing of the past. I recently also read an article about how meta-tags can affect the owner of the site. Competitors can view what keywords are being targeted by viewing the source code of the site. There are way more inportant factors, such as: links, title tag, h1 tag and more. I am not saying dont use them, but I am saying that you should consider and read more to learn more about search engine optimization.
:)

All this talk about Meta tags - no Meta tags is mute
Yes Meta Tags are still important - not as important as once long ago, but if a Search engine out there still uses them in ranking or presentation of a site

Yes they are still important...

Real question is, the initial question was posed how do they get #1 ranking in Google

FOR WHAT Search Term? - I have seen this question posed by two or three others but it has not been answered.

We could all go on for hours about the site design and what we dont like about it...

Fact is anyone can be number one for any given term depending on copy and competition.

Let’s find out the search term that gets this site a number 1 ranking, and then we can discuss how it is possible this site got to number 1.

Besides talking about this site and showing the link has probably given this company heart attacks about the increase of traffic.

For what search term did this site land #1 in Google for?

Hello,

OK I'm the one who started this and will answer the 1st question. The company is showing up in google with a 1st rank for the keyword 'Scaran' google also shows that out of 1,170 pages (I know this is not a lot) the website in question, still shows in 1st.

I know that the word I'm searching google with is the name of the company, but my question is HOW can it even rank with no title keywords, no meta tags, and no DOCTYPE.

I also know that there is really no competion, but with 1,170 pages (I know its not a lot) how can it even rank 1st. Is this not strange to anyone else? The code for this website goes against everything I ever read on getting your site ranked.

How is this even possible?


ME

That's the company name and also the domain name, so consequently it's in the anchor text of inbound links. It's such an unusual name that really, all it would take is one - like the one from the Chamber of Commerce. It's also in the page title, but even without it could rank for the name.

As a matter of fact, in a month or two, there is a pretty good chance that this thread will rank #1 for Scaran. ;)

That thought is Scaran the heck out of me. I'm not sure if Scaran people is such a good idea, but if it was, Scaran SEO's would probably get a thread ranked for Scaran pretty darn fast.


Ian :D

Hello,

Well thanks all for taking the time and looking at this.



BK